This question might not really belong in this forum but I didn't see a more appropriate place.
I have PhotoImpact 8, a Ulead program. I know it's old but it does the job for me. I also have Microsoft Picture It. Even older.
My problem: When I create a new image in PhotoImpact the options are to set the image size and the resolution. I always set the resolution for 300dpi. When I save it the options are the file type and the choice of no compression, I choose no compression.
In Picture It you set the resolution and compression in the options section.
Last week I uploaded a simple text graphic logo to Vistaprint. When I viewed it on there it obviously wasn't 300dpi, the resolution was poor.
I thought with those options set that my graphics were being saved at 300dpi. Why aren't they and how can I fix this?
Thanks for any help,
Mike
PhotoImpact is a great program, I used it when it was from ULead (I discover it accidentally with the software of one scanner) and later Corel buys ULead, and rename the program as Corel PhotoImpact.
On PhotoImpact you can "save" or "export" (also with he left mouse button) an image, the best choice is to use TIF file format, and choose "file" and "selection" if you want to have a transparent background. CorelDRAW will recognized the selection as an Alpha channel, and the image will be transparent.
The problem of resolution is simple: First of all, you must work at real size, if it's possible, then choose the resolution at 300 dpi. If you have 300 dpi but a small size (on centimeters) the result will be wrong.
"300 dpi" is an information for printing, not for screen. On your monitor you will see a chess board: this is a BITMAP. Each square is a pixel. If you search on Google for a wallpaper for Windows, you will found different resoutions, for example, 1024x768. That means a chess board with "1024 squares" wide. At this point, the size of each square is virtual, in other words, doesn't matter the size of the pixel, the only valid information is the amount of pixels: 1024x768.
But, when you go to print this image, each pixel (each square) must have a size. Then the size of each pixel will be relative to the size of the entre image on centimeters, inches or the units you're using. So, you can enlarge or reduce the entire image, but that doesn't change the amount of pixels. You will have 1024, no matter if the image is big or small. Now when you send to print, the size is important, and the size of each pixel is a big problem. An image with low esolution will have bigger pixels, and an image with high resolution will have small pixels, because in the same size (10 cm for example) will have more pixels.
So, for have "good resolution" you need both: big size and a lot of pixels. If you create an image small (ie 3x2 cm) at 300 dpi if you enlarge it each pixel will be a big square, and the resolution will be poor. If you have an image of 15x10 cm at 300 dpi, probabily you don't need to enlarge it, and you will have a high quality image. Make your image at final size, at 300 dpi and you don't have problems
Ariel, after reading all your good information the last paragraph made it clear to me. I was creating my graphic too small. I went back to the program and increased the size of the logo. I uploaded this new version to Vistaprint and previewed the document - looked just right. Thanks so much.